Hi guys
I'm new to the site so if I make a mess of it be gentle with me.
I have an Allen scythe that is in great condition having been overhauled some 3 or 4 years ago by a talented engineer. (not me!) I haven't run it since the couple of times I tried it when I acquired it, and now I want to mowsome meadow flowers, ti won't start. There's no spark at the plug. I would like to know how to get at the points. The engine is a Villiers Mark C25-15-01 four stroke.
Any pointers would be gratefully received.
Steve

Hello again to the 23 people who have looked in on me. I had another look at the Allen again today - had a bit more time as it was hissing down with rain and I couldn't do anything outside. I removed the three bolts in the centre of the pulley and gently knocked on it with a nylon hammer while pulling on the pulley and - pop! off it came. I was able to access the points and give 'em a good wazzing up with some crocus paper, a qick squirt with some contact cleaner, reassemble and in a jiffy we were turning and burning. Went out in the rain and cut the flower meadow. What a brute is the Allen. I fear it will soon be on e-bay. After an hour or so trying to keep it under control it felt like I'd done seven rounds with Mike Tyson. So if any of you out ther in KG land wants an Allen in good working order, give me a bell.
Best regards to all
steve

Evening Steve, sorry you didn't get an answer, but glad you managed to get it sorted.

I'm afraid i'm not very good when it comes to mechanics.

Now if it's making people smile, that's a different matter.

Pleased to read tonight that it runs again..."turning and burning" description sounds a bit aviation speak.??...more Bristol Centaurus than Villiers.??!!

Villiers flywheels mostly have a puller built in to the nut....but tend not to have a location key making more fun of replacing flywheel afterwards..... but it perhaps sounds like you have got underway by accessing points without need for flywheel removal.??

You hear plenty tales re Allen Scythes and their abilities to escape and mow everything in sight as they gallop away having jumped off clutch latch.

My former work colleague used to tell a tale of one that his father was using running away down an embankment and blocking the railway line below...

As a young lad on a cycle ride to the next village I once remember seeing some older lads trying to tow an Austin Cambridge with one......

I see they come up in conversation quite a bit on Vintage Horticultural & Garden Machinery Club site. http://www.tractorbox.co.uk/forum/default.asp

No rain here..extra tiring few days of chaffing warm winds/gales....blowing more moisture away then ever fell in the few mm of rain...and flapping marquees at todays garden fete...

Clive.

Hey, Clive.
Yep, you got it in one. Aircraft were my (pre) occupation in another life, though the Centaurus didn't feature. We did the odd P&W1830 in the early days and I finished on the Trent. The Allen is much more interesting....
Yes, I did get the Allen going without removing the flywheel, fortunately, as I was racking my brain trying to think of a way of holding the flywheel while I wond up the big spanner in the middle. Anyway it's on e-bay now and hopefully someone with more use for it then me will take it on. They certainly are a handful, but with a nice field of spindly grass I reckon they'd just about do it all on autopilot, and do a nice job into the bargain. Wrestling it round a pretty thick and wet daisy meadow that had been sown far too densely and trying to manoeuvre round and up and down slopes was a bit of a nightmare.
Current project is the restoration to service of a John Deere LX172 mower. If anyone out there has any bits, notably the upper moulding of the engine cover, let me know please.
I have to confess I'm not the kitchen gardener, Mrs J is. I belong to the "Slash and Burn" school of gardening - she tells me to cut it down and down it comes... she tells me to dig it up and up it comes.... you get the picture. I'm a dab hand at fencing though.
Keep thowe flying wires tight
Steve

hi old Herb!
Sorry I didn't mention you in my other post. Nothing personal! Nice veggies, man!
keep em growing
Steve